heterocyst A specialized cell found in nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. Heterocysts are enlarged cells with thick cell walls and they lack chlorophyll, giving them a colourless appearance. They are the site of nitrogen fixation, for which they produce the enzyme nitrogenase. The lack of photosynthetic activity (which would produce oxygen), together with the thick cell wall, are thought to maintain the anoxic conditions in heterocysts that are essential for the activity of nitrogenase. Heterocysts are connected by plasmodesmata to surrounding cells, on which they depend for nutrients.

heterocyst A specialized cell found in certain types of cyanobacteria; heterocysts are sites of nitrogen fixation.